Pandemic News and Research

RSS

A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. During a pandemic, transmission can be anticipated in the workplace, not only from patient to workers in health care settings, but also among co-workers in general work settings. A pandemic would cause high levels of illness, death, social disruption, and economic loss. Everyday life would be disrupted because so many people in so many places become seriously ill at the same time. Impacts could range from school and business closings to the interruption of basic services such as public transportation and food delivery.

Two new devices could offer additional safety for health care workers during COVID-19

Treating patients with COVID-19 means health care workers are putting their own health and safety on the line each day.

14 May 2020

Rice engineer receives NSF grant to study effect of varying temperatures on coronavirus

Daniel Preston, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Rice's Brown School of Engineering, has received a National Science Foundation Rapid Response Research grant to study the effect of varying temperatures on the lifetime of the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.

14 May 2020

ACTG initiates clinical trial to evaluate treatment for COVID-19

The AIDS Clinical Trials Group, the world's largest and longest established HIV research network, today announced the initiation of ACTG 5395, a clinical trial to evaluate whether the drug combination hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin can prevent hospitalization and death from COVID-19 (which is caused by infection with the virus SARS-CoV-2).

14 May 2020

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: What’s in the next round of COVID-19 relief?

House Democrats are moving ahead with another round of COVID-19 relief, including additional funding for state Medicaid programs, an open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act's marketplace plans, and money to pay premiums for newly unemployed Americans to continue on their employer health coverage.

14 May 2020

In reversal, Kansas will count all positive COVID cases, even asymptomatic ones

Kansas leaders will include asymptomatic COVID-19 cases in their assessments of virus trends as they evaluate when to take further steps to ease stay-at-home orders and other social distancing measures.

14 May 2020

Trump’s comparison of COVID-19 death rates in Germany, US is wrong

Following weeks of criticism over his administration's COVID-19 response, President Donald Trump pulled out new statistics to claim the nation is actually among the best in the world in fighting the lethal coronavirus.

14 May 2020

Reversing history, Indian Health Service seeks traditional healers

Cheryl Morales started the medicinal garden at the Aaniiih Nakoda College demonstration farm with only four plants: yarrow, echinacea, plantain and licorice root.

14 May 2020

Under COVID cloud, prisons in rural America threaten to choke rural hospitals

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept into Montana, it spread into the Marias Heritage Center assisted living facility, then flowed into the nearby 21-bed hospital.

14 May 2020

Despite pandemic, trauma centers see no end to ‘the visible virus of violence’

But many weren't there because of the coronavirus. They were there because they'd been shot.

14 May 2020

Drug counterfeiters are using corona pandemic to make profits in Africa

Drug counterfeiters are using the corona pandemic to make profits in Africa selling completely ineffective or even harmful medicines.

14 May 2020

LCSB researchers are coordinating to build a COVID-19 Disease Map

In the fight against the current pandemic, researchers of the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) at the University of Luxembourg are coordinating an international collaboration to build a COVID-19 Disease Map: a comprehensive repository incorporating all current knowledge on the virus-host interaction mechanisms. This online tool will support research and improve our understanding of the disease.

14 May 2020

Study finds no evidence of COVID-19 virus transmitting from cats to humans

Three cats infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 spread the virus to three other cats in a lab study published in The New England Journal of Medicine by a research team working in Tokyo, Japan, and Wisconsin, USA.

14 May 2020

New research and guidance focus on critical health aspects during COVID-19 epidemic

New research and guidance in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier, focus on critical topics pertaining to community and individual health during the COVID-19 epidemic.

14 May 2020

Strong relationships can help adults stay active in older age

Relationships are key to influencing positive health behaviors and should not be forgotten during social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic

14 May 2020

Scientists to focus on personal and planetary health problems at inaugural Systems Chemistry Symposium

Nearly 1,000 international scientists from over 40 countries and six continents will gather for three days in cyberspace beginning Monday, May 18, 2020, for the inaugural Systems Chemistry Symposium, where they will explore molecular principles of living systems as models for discoveries designed to address human and planetary health challenges.

14 May 2020

Machine learning can be used to track public interest in COVID-19 topics on popular internet sites

Machine learning can be used to track surges in interest in health topics on popular online comment boards, like Reddit, according to a new study conducted during the COVID-19 outbreak by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn Medicine).

14 May 2020

New textile coating prevents viruses from adhering to the surface

Masks, gowns, and other personal protective equipment (PPE) are essential for protecting healthcare workers. However, the textiles and materials used in such items can absorb and carry viruses and bacteria, inadvertently spreading the disease the wearer sought to contain.

14 May 2020

Biomechanics Institute establishes mask measurements for children aged 3 to 12

The Biomechanics Institute (IBV), benchmark technological centre for the health, well-being and quality of life of people, is taking part in a work group coordinated by the Spanish Standardisation Body (UNE) to establish the minimum requirements that the hygienic masks must meet regarding the materials used for their manufacturing, creation, marking and use.

14 May 2020

Comparison of flu deaths with COVID-19 deaths

A new study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine in May 2020 reports that false comparisons between the count of COVID-19 deaths as reported by various hospitals in the US, and the estimated flu-related deaths, causes significant confusion and may impair the ability to design public health policies.

14 May 2020